Empanadas (Paraguay)

Another recipe from Scott's mission.

Beef Empanadas (Paraguay)

Ingredients:

• ½ lb. ground beef     
• ¼- ½ lg. onion (1/2 cup), chopped 
• ¼- ½ lg. bell pepper (1/2 cup), chopped
• 1 hard boiled egg, chopped
• garlic, parsley, salt and pepper to taste
• *12 empanada discs

Directions:

• Begin by boiling the egg and preheating the oven to 400 degrees. The egg will take about 15 minutes to be hard-boiled.  Cover the meat with water.  Cook the meat until tender.  Stir it well and break it up into fine bits.  Once cooked, drain the meat and save the stock. 
• Fry the vegetables in a very small amount of oil.  Add ½ cup of meat stock.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Add the vegetable/stock mixture to the meat, and boil the whole mixture for 5 more minutes.  Stir in the chopped boiled eggs. 
• Put about 1-2 Tbl. of filling into the center of each empanada disc.  Pinch the edges of the disc with a fork.  Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray, and bake empanadas for 8-10 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
• You can find premade empanada discs in the refrigerated/freezer section of your local Mexican food market.  It is much easier than making them from scratch.  To make from scratch, see the Ham and Cheese Empanada recipe.

Ham and Cheese Empanadas (Paraguay)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour                                                              
• ¼ cup shortening                                                      
• ½+ cups water                                                          
• 8 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed
• 1 slice deli ham, 1/2” thick, cubed
• 6 cups (approx.) oil, for frying

Directions:

• Mix flour, shortening and water together until a nice dough forms that you can roll out thinly and cut into discs about 3-4 inches diameter.  
• In a saucepan or microwave bowl, melt cheese and ham together and stir until combined.  Place a spoonful of ham and cheese in the middle of disc, wet and crimp the edges.  
• Heat oil to 350 degrees, add empanadas, cook for about 4 minutes or until golden brown.  Makes about 20 empanadas.  
• Notes: Dampen and crimp the edges well and don’t overfill to prevent empanadas from coming open in the fryer.  Thinner dough for shells makes them crispier, but if it’s too thin then they come apart easily. It is easier to buy premade empanada discs from your local Mexican market, and you can either bake or fry the empanadas.  Cheese tends to expand when hot, so if baking, try poking a set of holes in the top of the empanada to vent and keep it from breaking open.